Computer game fans queued in wintry weather overnight, in cities including Birmingham, to get their hands on the latest block-busting release.

The hotly-anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops went on sale at midnight at hundreds of stores across the country, with many seeing lines of purchasers form outside the door.

The 18-rated commando game in which players take the role of special forces agents in places like Russia and Vietnam, is expected to become the fastest and biggest-selling title in history with well over one million sales in the first week alone.

Its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, has generated more than one billion dollars (£620 million) in sales.

Retailer HMV opened over 100 of its stores around the UK and Ireland at midnight on Monday night - including branches in London's Oxford Street, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin - to cater for the demand.

Bosses said some of the queues began forming 12 hours earlier, with student Imran Chowdhury of Manor Park, east London, among the first to arrive at HMV Oxford Street.

The firm's head of games, Tim Ellis, said: "Call of Duty: Black Ops is all set to challenge last year's phenomenon Modern Warfare 2 to become the fastest and biggest-selling title in games history.

"Well over one million sales are predicted for its first week alone, and with Christmas coming up and more people now owning a console than ever before, we expect it to go on to become not just the most popular game ever, but an iconic release that will take gaming on to a new level."

It is the latest high-profile computer game launch.

September saw stores across the world also open at midnight to launch Halo Reach, the most recent instalment of the best-selling Halo video game series.